Wire guard



March 16, 1965 T. L. SULLIVAN 3,173,519

' WIRE GUARD Filed Jan. 26, 1962 INVENTOR.

THOMAS L. SULLIVAN RNEY United States Patent 3,173,519 WIRE GUARD Thomas L. Sullivan, 5495 Burns Road, North Olmsted, Ohio Filed Jan. 26, 1962, Ser. No. 169,039 2 Claims. (Cl. 189-315) This invention pertains to a guard device for guarding wires, transmission lines, guy wires and the like, and more particularly pertains to a tubular plastic covering which is readily applied to such wires.

Guy wires are often connected between a vertical pole supporting power and telephone lines and a ground anchoring member. Often these guy wires are used in locations where many people walk and it is desirable to cover them for protection of the pedestrians.

Also, where wires pass through or close to trees it is often desirable to protect the wire against abrasion and damage due to contact with the trees which could lead to service interruption and expensive repairs.

In the past wire protecting devices have been provided, but they have not been universally successful for one reason or another. On important reason has been that there are at least five methods used to dead-end guy wires, and the prior art protective devices have not been adaptable enough to fit all of them. A special protective device has been devised for the helical type dead-end, but it does not fit the other types such as the clamp type, the jaw type, the U-bolt clamp type or the served type.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a guard for guy wires which is readily applicable to the several types of dead-end connections which are now being used, and wherein the device is also applicable to power wires, telephone wires, etc.

A further object of my invention is to provide a plastic wire guard which is easily and inexpensively manufactured, preferably on plastic tube making machinery, and which may be easily and quickly applied to a guy wire or the like by an unskilled person.

Still another object of my invention is to provide a plastic wire guard which will not rattle against the wire it is guarding, and which cannot readily be taken oif by unauthorized persons.

It is also an object of my invention to provide a wire guard whose length can readily be cut down in the field in the event a shorter guard is needed.

With reference to the drawings there is shown in FIG- URE 1 a guy wire on which is mounted a guard device of the present invention.

FIGURE 2 is a cross-sectional view taken along line 22 of FIGURE 1.

FIGURE 3 is a cross-sectional view taken through the guard device before it is mounted on a wire.

FIGURE 4 is a cross-sectional view taken along line 4--4 of FIGURE 1.

With reference to FIGURE 1 there is shown a guy wire on which is secured the guard device 11 of the present invention.

The guard 11, as shown by FIGURE 3, comprises an outer tube 12 made of tough, abrasion resistant material such as the modern plastics or it may even be made of natural or synthetic rubber. The tube 12 may be of any convenient length, and it is split lengthwise as shown at 13. Within the split tube 12 there are positioned a number of split collars 14 which are riveted to the tube 12 by 3,173,519 Patented Mar. 16, 1965 split rivets 15 or other connecting devices, with the splits of the collars registering with the split 13 in the plastic tube 12. The collars may be made of tough plastic such as neoprene or industrial rubber or the like. These collars 14 may be conveniently spaced apart, as shown in FIGURE 1, and at the lower end of the tube the collar may be spaced up into the tube so that the lower end or" the tube 12 is open and is free to fit around any one of the several types of dead-end connectors so that the guard device can cover the connectors, and if desired, extend to the ground.

At the upper end of the guard the collar 14 may be placed substantially at the end, where it closes the tube to prevent water and dirt from entering and accumulating. The collars 14 have a central opening 16 to accommodate a guy wire 10. The size of the opening 16 my vary in accordance with the wire to be guarded. For example, if it is a single strand power or telephone wire the opening 16 is to be made smaller.

In order to apply the guard to a wire it is merely forced down onto the wire so that the wire fits into the central opening or channel 16. Attaching screws 18 are then tightened. The attaching screws extend through the plastic tube 12 and through one side of the plastic collar into the opposite side thereof, and as the screws are tightened they pull the two sides of the collars together and, since the collars are riveted to the outside tube 12, as a consequence pull the tube 12 together until it appears as shown in FIGURES 2 and 4.

Proper fit of the guard around the wire requires the collars 14, when tight, to snugly hold the wire 10 which is in the opening 16. Peferably, though not required, a small opening 19 is retained in order to drain out any water which may get in.

Phillips head screws 18 are preferred since they are not as easy to remove if a person does not have a Phillips head screw driver handy.

By referring to FIGURES 1 and 4 it will be seen that the wire 10 throughout most of its protected length is not in contact with anything, and that it is only at the locations of the collars 14 that it is engaged, yet the spaced apart plastic tube 12 is securely connected to the wire 10 by means of the spaced collars which are riveted to it.

While there have been described what are at present considered to be the preferred embodiments of this invention, it will be obvious to those skilled in the art that various changes and modifications may be made therein without departing from the invention, and it is, therefore, aimed in the appended claims to cover all such changes and modifications as fall within the true spirit and scope of the invention.

I claim:

1. A wire guard comprising, in combination, a length of flexible tubing split open axially, a plurality of split collars mounted within said tubing, each said collar having a split which substantially registers with the split in said tubing, means connecting the said collars to the tubing on both sides of said splits, said collars having a central wire accommodating opening, and means extending through a wall or" said tubing into each of said collars at both sides of said split therein to pull the split edges of said collars together and thereby to pull the split edges of said tubing together for securing said tube and said collars together around said wire and substantially closing the opening formed by said split.

2. A wire guard comprising, in combination, a length of flexible, plastic tubing split lengthwise, a plurality of spaced apart split plastic collars mounted within said tubing with their splits substantially registering with the split in said tube, each of said collars having a central wire accommodating opening, means connecting the tube tightly to each of said collar means, and means extending through a wall of said tubing into each of said collars at both sides of said split therein for closing said collars is and said tubing together around said wire to substantially close the splits in said collars and in said tube.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 874,834 Copping Dec. 24, 19?)? 1,896,921 Smith Feb. 7, 1933 1,902,945 Blackburn Mar. 28, 1933 2,408,253 Diebold Sept. 24, 1946 3,610,546 Phillips Nov. 28, 1961 

1. A WIRE GUARD COMPRISING, IN COMBINATION, A LENGTH OF FLEXIBLE TUBING SPLIT OPEN AXIALLY, A PLURALITY OF SPLIT COLLARS MOUNTED WITHIN SAID TUBING, EACH SAID COLLAR HAVING A SPLIT WHICH SUBSTANTIALLY REGISTERS WITH THE SPLIT IN SAID TUBING, MEANS CONNECTING THE SIAD COLLARS TO THE TUBING ON BOTH SIDES OF SAID SPLITS, SAID COLLARS HAVING A CENTRAL WIRE ACCOMMODATING OPENING, AND MEANS EXTENDING THROUGH A WALL OF SAID TUBING INTO EACH OF SAID COLLARS AT BOTH SIDES OF SAID SPLIT THEREIN TO PULL THE SPLIT EDGES OF SAID COLLARS TOGETHER AND THEREBY TO PULL THE SPLIT EDGES OF SAID TUBING TOGETHER FOR SECURING SAID TUBE AND SAID COLLARS TOGETHER AROUND SAID WIRE AND SUBSTANTIALLY CLOSING THE OPENING FORMED BY SAID SPLIT. 